Hale is Woman of the Year

Wednesday

Apr 17, 2013 at 6:00 PMApr 17, 2013 at 6:22 PM

‘An outspoken advocate for the faculty and for her students’

Staff Reports

Dr. Barbara Hale, professor of physics at Missouri University of Science and Technology, has been named 2013 Woman of the Year by Missouri S&T. She was honored during a campus ceremony Wednesday, April 17.

The Woman of the Year award is given annually in recognition of efforts to improve the campus environment for women and minorities. As part of the award, Hale received a $2,000 stipend funded by Missouri S&T graduate Cynthia Tang, founder and former chair of Insight Industries Inc.

“Dr. Hale is an outstanding educator,” wrote one of her nominators. “She has been an outspoken advocate for the faculty and for her students.” The nominator also noted that Hale has received both the Faculty Excellence Award and the Outstanding Teacher Award numerous times.

Hale, a senior investigator in the Cloud and Aerosol Science Laboratory at Missouri S&T, also serves as the personal adviser for Chi Omega sorority, a position she has held since the chapter’s founding in 1979.

“Dr. Hale understands the meaning of ‘adviser,’ which is something we appreciate as young women learning to make decisions that not only affect ourselves, but our sisters and future Chi Omegas,” wrote another nominator.

“Dr. Hale builds a close relationship with each member of the chapter. Each and every week she brings forth ideas filled with wisdom and experience for our chapter and everyday lives.”

Hale came to the university in 1969 as a visiting assistant professor of mathematics. She became a research associate in the Graduate Center for Cloud Physics Research in 1971. In 1973, Hale became assistant professor of physics and a senior investigator in the Graduate Center for Cloud Physics Research. She was named associate professor of physics in 1977 and professor of physics in 1982.

Hale, who holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University and a bachelor of science degree from Syracuse University, both in physics, is a member of the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Meteorological Society, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Sigma Pi Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi.

In addition to the Faculty Excellence and Outstanding Teaching awards, Hale received the Chi Omega National Adviser Award in 2000 and the Miner Alumni Association Faculty Adviser Award in 2002.